


Iron Man: Unsolved

by edibna



Series: Mysterious Heroes [2]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Fluff, Friday is a piece of shit, Gen, Iron Dad, Peter Parker is scared of ghosts, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark likes Buzzfeed Unsolved, buzzfeed unsolved - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-04 19:03:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15847443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edibna/pseuds/edibna
Summary: When Buzzfeed Unsolved released Iron Man: Unsolved as a follow up to the Spider-Man special, Peter knew he was going to have to get Tony to watch it with him. After all, how many people could say that they watched conspiracy videos about Iron Man with Iron Man himself?The internship could wait.





	Iron Man: Unsolved

**Author's Note:**

> And after 10,000 years, I finally post this. 
> 
> Just kidding, but I had this planned for a long time, and I am so excited this is finally going up. Let's be real, Buzzfeed Unsolved in the MCU would be amazing.

It was an internship day, and Peter was more excited than anything else to get out of school so he could get started with his day. Their schedule was pretty open, which meant that Peter could easily get Mr. Stark to watch it. After their last conspiracy watching fest, Peter thought that Mr. Stark liked watching them with him. Hopefully, he really did.

As school ended, it was difficult to leave without hearing  _ something  _ about the episode. With the drama of the week prior, with both Spider-man and Iron Man being in front of the school, it was all everyone could talk about. So, when the episode came out, it was all people could do but talk about Iron Man theories.However, Peter didn’t want to hear any of them until he had seen the episode with Mr. Stark. 

As Peter  _ finally  _ got into the car with Happy, knowing his day was over, he was relieved. However, when Happy turned to him and said, “We have a different stop to make today, Peter.”, he felt like he had deflated. 

“Is it a mission?” 

“Boss didn’t say.” Was Happy’s only response before he rolled the privacy glass up. Peter frowned, feeling disappointed in the situation. Was there some other time that he could watch it with Mr. Stark? Peter seriously doubted he could make it through another school day without hearing something about it, which he didn’t want to do. 

Peter sighed, and tried to push it out of his mind. If this was a mission, then it was good that Mr. Stark was trusting him. If it was some other project, then he could push through the day without letting Mr. Stark know he was upset, and then watch the episode when he got home. After all, he was there to be an  _ actual  _ intern.

The car pulled up to a random, nondescript building, and the privacy glass rolled down. Peter looked at Happy with a confused gaze, and Happy said, “This is your stop. The code to where you’re going was just sent to your phone and you’re gonna put that into the screen on the elevator.” 

“But… Mr. Happy, aren’t you coming with me?” Peter asked. 

“Nope.” Happy said. “I’m off after this.” 

“Oh… okay.” Peter said. “Well, have a good night, then.” 

Peter got out of the car with a wave and half smile from Happy, and wondered what the hell he was doing here. Was this a test of some kind? Or was it some sneak attack to see if Peter was on his guard at all times? 

Peter was sure to watch over his shoulder at every moment as he followed Happy’s instruction. Nothing happened as the elevator climbed the floors, and opened near the top of the building. The sound of loud rock music filtered through the open floor plan of wherever he was, and Peter slowly walked in. 

He vaguely recognized the band being played as AC/DC, which Aunt May would have loved. Mr. Stark probably would have liked the song, too. 

Peter rounded a corner, only to see Mr. Stark staring at more than one hundred holographic emails which were projected in the air. His head bopped with the music being played, and he seemed super focused.

“Uh, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, and he cringed when he caused the man to jump. The music died instantly, and Mr. Stark looked at him with wide eyes. 

“Kid? Happy didn’t tell me you were here.” Mr. Stark said. 

“He just told me to come up.”

Tony seemed to confused. “Huh, that’s odd. He might be mad that he had to work late today.” 

“Sorry.” 

“Not your fault, kid.” Mr. Stark said, and with a wave of his hand, the emails were gone. 

“So, why am I here instead of the compound?” Peter asked. “Is there a mission?” 

“Oh yeah, and a very important one.” 

Peter stood up a little straighter, both excited and bummed out by the turn of events. “Do I need to suit up?” 

Mr. Stark laughed. “No, kid. You know what premiered yesterday.” 

“Wait, you mean the Iron Man episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved?” Peter asked, a grin etching itself on his face. 

“I saved it especially for you, kid. F.R.I.D.A.Y. is making popcorn as we speak.” 

Peter could hear the popping of the kernels, and he couldn’t help but feel relieved. “But … wait, why wouldn’t we just watch it at the compound?” 

“This is my penthouse, kid.” Mr. Stark said, “And it’s also not an hour from your apartment either. I figure we would have more time this way.” 

Peter felt a blush work his way on his face. Mr. Stark was wanting to spend more time with him? What in the world had he done to deserve this? 

Mr. Stark clapped him on the shoulder, and began walking to the living room, where a T.V. was literally coming out of the ceiling. Peter watched it in awe, before he said, “But wait, Mr. Stark, don’t you have a lot of work to do? I can let you work if you need to.” 

“Kid, I am always busy.” Mr. Stark said, nonchalantly. “Don’t worry about it. The only thing you need to worry about it getting over here and watching this stupid Youtube series you somehow got me to like.” 

Peter still felt bad, but walked over to the couch and sat down. 

“Take your shoes off, kid, and get comfy. I am going to grab the popcorn.” Mr. Stark said, walking away. Peter stared after him, and then slowly took his shoes off. The couch was comfy, and Peter couldn’t even resist relaxing into it as he waited. 

Mr. Stark was back only a moment later, and he put the popcorn right in the middle of them. Just as he sat down the episode began to play, and Peter felt the excitement flutter as he got ready to watch the video. He had been so excited for this. 

“This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved we are taking a look at the great and powerful Iron Man as a part of our Mysterious Heroes series. Now, as we all know, Iron Man is also known as Tony Stark … or is he?” Ryan said, as the usual opening sequence of the Buzzfeed played. 

“Excuse me, what?” Shane Madej said, back. “You mean to tell me Tony Stark is not Iron Man?” 

“I mean to tell you… well, just wait and see.” 

“If they say that Iron Man is Happy Hogan I am going to sue.” Mr. Stark said. Peter laughed. Seeing Happy as Iron Man would be amazing. 

“So, we all know the story of Iron Man as it’s told.” Ryan began to explain. “Tony Stark was captured in Afghanistan by a group of terrorists called the Ten Rings. The details of that capture and what exactly they wanted from him are fuzzy, but we do know he somehow crafted the first Iron Man armor, dubbed Mark 1, in that time he was captured.” 

“I would, first, like to say how fucking amazing it is that this man created such a piece of machinery in captivity.” Shane said, “I mean, it had to be hot, and we all know he had the … arc thingy-” 

“Arc reactor.” Ryan said. 

“Right, that, during this time. I mean, to come up with such an invention, it’s remarkable, and I have to say that.” 

“I agree. I think the evidence is pretty clear that Tony  _ had  _ to pilot the suit to get out of captivity, and no one else could invent such a thing, so you have a good point.” 

“Thank you, Ryan.” 

“Now, we all know that Tony Stark miniaturized the arc reactor technology that kept him alive, and basically put him at the top of clean energy resources. Many other scientists have tried to mimic what he did and could not, which is also a nod to Tony’s genius.” 

“Damn right it is.” Mr. Stark muttered, and Peter had to admit, he agreed with that statement. 

The two men on-screen told more about Mr. Stark’s history. The older man was quiet during this, and Peter felt bad for even making him watch it, but Mr. Stark didn’t look too upset, so Peter didn’t say anything.

“Now that we’ve covered the… quite detailed backstory of Tony Stark, let’s get to some of the theories that people have surrounding him.” 

“See, of all the heroes with theories, I have to say, I wouldn’t expect Iron Man at all.” Shane said. “I feel like, out of all of them, he is the one that puts the most of his life out there.” 

“I agree. I mean, if it weren’t for the connection to Spider-Man, that was … pretty recently revealed, I would say this guy is mostly an open book, but there are some people who think he is too open with his life, therefore he’s hiding something crazy, and with what happened last week…” 

“Yeah, yeah I get it.” Shane said. “Hopefully these are good, because it’s gonna take a lot to get me to believe anything else about Iron Man.” 

“Well we’ll see.” Ryan said, opening the case file. Peter grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it in his mouth excitedly. He was so ready for the theories. “The first theory is, that Tony Stark only revealed himself as Iron Man to protect an employee who really was the mastermind behind the suits in the modern day world.”

“Wait, so Tony Stark is covering for someone?” Shane asked. 

“Basically. I mean, if you think about it, Stark Industries stock exploded after he revealed who he was, and the guy has tons of security to make sure no one can come after him.” 

“But people have seen him suit up.” 

“The suits can be remotely controlled.” 

“So, what you’re saying is that Tony Stark is just a guy reaping the benefits of being Iron Man while someone else actually does the work?” 

Peter snuck a glance over at Tony who was shaking his head, but didn’t look too pissed. Maybe this wasn’t the best thing to watch. The theories were only going to get worse from here.

“I mean, I don’t buy it. Who the hell wouldn’t want to be Iron Man?” 

“I don’t know, maybe the real person has a family.” 

“Well, so does Tony Stark now, too.” 

“You have a point there.” Ryan said. “I’m not saying this is the most concrete thing I have ever seen, mostly because there is next to no evidence backing it up, especially since we’ve seen Tony Stark come out of his own building in a suit multiple times, as well as suit up on live camera.” 

“Right, so how many people believe this theory?” 

“A good few.” Ryan said. 

“It’s a shame.” Shane said, shaking his head. 

“I guess you’re more on the side of Tony Stark is Iron Man, then.” 

“Oh yes, of course.” Shane said. “It would take a lot to convince me he’s not.” 

“Well, let’s go to our next theories then.” Ryan said. 

“You know,” Mr. Stark said, “I like this Shane guy. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders.” 

“I mean he’s pretty skeptical. He doesn’t even believe in ghosts, Mr. Stark.” 

“You believe in ghosts, kid?” 

“Uh, maybe?” Peter said, and at Mr. Stark’s interested look, he muttered, “Let’s just move on…” And the episode kept playing. He definitely did not want to discuss ghosts with Mr. Stark, because he knew that would lead to them actually watching ghost videos, which would make Peter not sleep for a week again. 

“Now, onto our second theory.” Ryan said, back in the episode. “And this is a wild one.” 

“Please don’t be aliens.” Shane replied. 

Ryen wheezed. “Not yet, but this one is pretty good. The theory is that Tony Stark actually is not alive, but a hologram of him used for the media.” 

The scene cut to Shane’s face, which mimicked Mr. Stark’s own face of complete and utter disbelief. Ryan laughed, which caused Peter to let out a chuckle. 

“I know, I know, it’s a bit crazy,” Ryan said, “But there is some evidence to back it up. Number one, we never truly see Tony Stark touch anyone unless  _ he  _ initiates it.” 

“See, I’ve always thought he was just a weird guy.” Shane said. 

“I am not  _ weird.”  _ Mr. Stark said, sounded offended. “I just don’t like random people grabbing me!” 

“There is also the fact that he doesn’t like to be handed things.” Ryan said. “Not even from his close friends.” 

“Wait, he doesn’t like to be handed things?” Shane said, and Peter looked over at Mr. Stark with an unanswered question. 

The video paused as Mr. Stark turned to Peter. “What, kid?” 

“You don’t like to be handed things?” Peter asked, laughing. “Why not?” 

“It’s just a thing of mine. If you got handed as much paperwork as I get, you wouldn’t like being handed things either.” 

“Are you sure you’re not a hologram?” Peter teased. “I mean, it would make sense.” 

Mr. Stark glared at him for a long moment, before grabbed the bowl of popcorn, and putting it on the floor. Peter watched in confusion, until Mr. Stark jumped across the couch and landed right next to Peter. 

Peter yelled when he felt Mr. Stark start to tickle him, and he tried to squirm away, careful not to use too much of his super strength. After a moment of awkward laughing and shuffling, Peter wound up falling on the floor and kicking the popcorn over across the floor. 

“Kid! I moved that so you wouldn’t knock it over!” Mr. Stark said. “That’s a waste of perfectly good popcorn!” 

“You tickled me!” Peter said. “How did you even know I was ticklish in the first place?” 

“You do know I talk to your aunt, right?” 

Peter groaned. “She’s evil!” 

“Not, evil, just helpful. Now get back up here, kid, I want to finish this video.” 

Peter stayed where he was, frowning. “I don’t trust you anymore, Mr. Stark.” 

“Are you pouting right now?” Mr. Stark said, a ghost of a smile on his features. 

“I’m not!” Peter said, though he knew he totally was. 

“You knock over my amazing popcorn and then you pout at me. Jeez, kid, you are one whole mess.” 

“I am not. I just want to be protected.” 

“Get up here.” Mr. Stark said, rolling his eyes. 

“Nope, I am too comfy.” 

“Fine, if stay down there, we are watching ghost videos after this.” 

Peter shot up. “You wouldn’t.” 

“Try me kid.” 

“You are the worst.” Peter said, coming to sit next to Mr. Stark. He sat a little closer this time, but was still wary of being tickled again. 

Mr. Stark rolled his eyes and played the video. They watched the ending of that theory, where the only evidence of the hologram was grainy photoshop footage that had Mr. Stark laughing way too hard at how bad it was. Peter could only frown in the direction of the spilt popcorn and wondered if it would be too bad if he ate it. 

“Alright, our next theory is more fact at this point, but still worth mentioning.” Ryan said. 

“Oh?” Shane asked, looking interested. 

“It’s basically that Spider-Man is Iron Man’s son, and he never told anyone because he had an affair with an alien.”

The camera cut to Shane, looking almost angry at the theory. “What? How is the world is that fact?” 

“Well, Tony Stark himself confirmed Spider-Man is his son, and his intern told a friend that Spider-Man was an alien and that was how he got his powers. Did you not hear about it?” 

“No, no, that is not real, not the alien part. You are literally pranking me right now.” 

“I am not.” Ryan said, “The news just broke yesterday!” 

“Where?” Shane said, “Show the receipts.” 

The scene cut to Ryan showing Shane a video on his phone, and Shane shook his head. “How do we know this isn’t fake?” 

“Well, no one has made a statement denying it, and it’s been well over twenty-four hours… So one can assume, at least some of it is true.”

“The whole Spider-Man thing I can get, because, well let’s be honest here, Tony Stark would definitely have a kid at that age, but aliens, Ryan? Really?” 

“I mean the intern would know.” Ryan said. 

“Or the intern lied about it. Didn’t we say this intern was Spider-Man last week?” 

“We did, but he just seemed like some dorky kid.” Ryan said. “And, he didn’t go on the record to say it. So he wouldn’t be doing it for attention.” 

“Should I be offended right now?” Peter asked. 

“Kid, they’ve been talking about me for the last ten minutes. You can do with some talk about you.” Mr. Stark replied. 

“Rude.” Peter said, as the episode continued. 

“So, no one has seen Spider-Man outside of his costume, right?” Shane asked. 

“Exactly, and with all of the extra-terrestrial activity that has been proven around here, it’s possible.” 

“Would it have been an alien spider?” Shane asked. 

“You know, maybe…” 

“Oh God.” Tony said. “We didn’t think last week through, did we?” 

“I think this is hilarious.” Peter said back, causing Tony to roll his eyes and push Peter ever so slightly. 

“Now, moving on to our last and final theory, and you’ll like this one, Shane.” Ryan said, “It’s that Tony Stark is an alien.” 

“Of, fuck off, Ryan.” Shane said. 

“This is worse that Iron Man being Happy.” Tony muttered. “Do I look like an alien?” 

“A little?” 

Tony glared at Peter before he reached out and locked his arm gently around Peter’s neck and gave him a noogie. 

“Hey! Mr. Stark, no!” Peter yelled, trying in vain to get away, but nothing was working. The episode kept playing in the background while Mr. Stark held Peter down, and they missed most of the wishy-washy evidence of how Mr. Stark would have been an alien. 

Neither of them tuned in until they heard, “The only thing that I believe is that Spider-Man is Tony Stark’s son.” 

Mr. Stark let go of Peter, who head fell right into his mentor’s lap. He stayed there, since it had a good view of the T.V., and it was pretty comfy.

“You do?” Ryan asked Shane, who seemed to be thinking hard about something. 

“You know, Ryan.” Shane said, as he played with a pen. “What if this intern kid is actually Spider-Man, and ... hear me out here, is also Tony Stark’s son?” 

“Oh.” Ryan said, his eyes wide. “Now that is actually possible.” 

“You see? It would make so much sense.” 

Mr. Stark seemed a little nervous and Peter was right there with him. It was too close to home. 

“But the only thing is that we saw both Spider-Man and Iron Man at the school, where the kid was present.” Ryan said. 

Shane seemed to think about it. “True, true. Man, I was really onto something there.” 

Peter blew out a breath of nervousness, his head still laying on Mr. Stark’s leg. “See? They don’t know who I am.” 

“And they don’t know me either, kid. Aliens? Really?” 

“Look, you’re a weird guy, Mr. Stark. I can’t help it that other people have picked up on that.” 

“Yeah, yeah, kid.” Mr. Stark said rolling his eyes. “So, are you up for ghost videos, or do you have to get home before your bedtime?” 

“It’s like… five, Mr. Stark.” 

“Oh, I know, but I’m giving you an out, since you’re so scared of ghosts and all.” 

Peter sat up, “I am fine with ghosts! I don’t think  _ you  _ can handle it.” 

“I’m shaking, kid.” Mr. Stark said sarcastically. 

“Fine, let’s watch some ghost videos.” Peter said. “But you have to make more popcorn.” 

“Whatever, Pete.” Mr. Stark said, getting off of the couch, “But if you spill it again, you have to watch DUM-E clean it up!” 

Mr. Stark disappeared into the kitchen, and Peter made himself comfortable laying against the arm of the couch. When Mr. Stark returned with a bowl full of popcorn, they were both ready to continue their marathon. 

Unfortunately, it was a little scarier than either of them thought. And at the sight of a dark, and probably fake, ghost, both Peter and his mentor decided to sleep in the living room with the lights on. 

And F.R.I.D.A.Y. totally didn’t play random sounds at night to scare them. She wouldn’t...No, being evil wasn’t in her programming… 

Or was it?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed! I wanna do more with this but I have a few more things in the works that I just can't wait to post. 
> 
> Also, if you want updates on when I post, you can find me on Tumblr [here!](https://edibna.tumblr.com/) I post every time I upload a new fic/chapter of anything I write. Also, I do take requests there!


End file.
